Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 26,872 Shares of VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) by 142.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 45,707 shares of the information services provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,872 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in VeriSign were worth $9,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 52.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 152 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA grew its position in VeriSign by 158.6% in the 4th quarter. Baldwin Brothers LLC MA now owns 181 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in VeriSign by 91.7% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 347 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in VeriSign by 251.5% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 355 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional bought a new stake in VeriSign in the 4th quarter worth about $79,000. 92.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on VRSN shares. StockNews.com cut shares of VeriSign from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of VeriSign from $237.00 to $236.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at VeriSign

In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 614 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $116,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,088,110. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas C. Indelicarto sold 613 shares of VeriSign stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.05, for a total transaction of $122,017.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,930,124.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,877 shares of company stock valued at $2,878,864 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

VeriSign Stock Up 0.2 %

VRSN opened at $185.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $18.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.43 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $189.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $200.37. VeriSign, Inc. has a twelve month low of $181.01 and a twelve month high of $229.72.

VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The information services provider reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.09. VeriSign had a net margin of 54.74% and a negative return on equity of 46.56%. The firm had revenue of $380.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.01 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that VeriSign, Inc. will post 7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

About VeriSign

VeriSign, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure that enables internet navigation for various recognized domain names worldwide. The company enables the security, stability, and resiliency of internet infrastructure and services, including providing root zone maintainer services, operating two of thirteen internet root servers; and offering registration services and authoritative resolution for the .com and .net domains, which supports global e-commerce.